Saturday, January 4, marked the final operating days for two WDW
entertainment mainstays. One is gone for good, while another will return with
unspecified upgrades.

Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade danced through the Magic Kingdom's
streets for over 12 years, since its debut as part of the 100 Years of Magic
promotion on October 1, 2001. It's gone through several iterations involving
slight changes to floats, music, and names over the years, but as a whole it's
remained the same procession. Many fans became tired of seeing the same old
floats, but this parade is actually my favorite of any Disney has put on. Yes,
its floats and choreography may have been subdued in comparison to other Disney
parades, but that meant its focus was instead turned to character interaction.
I like to think of the Magic Kingdom as the quintessential Disney experience,
where childhood heroes materialize before our eyes and lifelong dreams of
having an encounter with those heroes come true. That's what this parade did so
well: By including nearly every classic Disney character imaginable and turning
its attention to how those characters interact with guests along the parade
route, it made for special memories that other parades with a performance focus
can never achieve. I look forward to the Festival of Fantasy Parade debuting
later this spring, but I admit I'll miss Celebrate.

Over at Animal Kingdom, Festival of the Lion King had its final performance
in its Camp Minnie-Mickey location. The show will re-open in about six months
in a new building in the Africa area of the park. There hasn't been any word on
if the show is simply being moved verbatim and the theater will be the only
element to receive an overhaul, or if the show's content itself will be seeing
some alterations. I really do enjoy Festival of the Lion King (it's my favorite
attraction at Animal Kingdom), but I'd love to see a few content changes here
and there to keep things fresh.